Restoring Scotland’s rainforests

More than 1,200 hectares of degraded rainforest habitat are now on the road to recovery thanks to Scottish Government funding.

Almost £5 million has already been invested in rainforest restoration since 2023 and a further £5 million for ongoing restoration efforts was allocated as part of the draft 2025/26 Budget.

Scotland’s rainforest is a type of coastal temperate rainforest which is incredibly rare and as internationally significant as tropical rainforest.

Scottish Government funding is already supporting the work to protect and enhance the important habitat by:

• Recruiting apprentices and new entrants to the industry to support removal of non-native species like Rhododendron and regenerating conifers.
• Regenerating and reconnecting ancient designated Caledonian pine forests and other surviving rainforest remnants in Loch Arkaig
• Collaborative working with Forestry Land Scotland, Argyll Countryside Trust and the Woodland Trust to restore 2,000 hectares in the Knapdale priority rainforest area

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon welcomed the rainforest restoration work being done by a range of partners across the country during a visit to Sallochy Forest, a site managed by Forestry Land Scotland (FLS).

Ms Gougeon said: 

“Scotland is home to its own temperate rainforest boasting a variety of rare species and habitats.  We are already delivering work to protect and expand this precious environment and this additional funding of £5 million will help us to go further faster.

“Protecting our rainforests is essential to tackling our biodiversity crisis but is also an important step in helping Scotland on its journey to net zero by 2045.

“Rainforest restoration needs to be done at a landscape scale, in partnership with organisations, landowners and land managers, and this funding will help to develop and deliver a range of collaborative projects.”

FLS, a member of Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest, is responsible for one third of Scotland’s temperate rainforest area with 20 years of experience of rainforest restoration. 

Working to Scottish Forestry’s Rainforest Strategy, FLS is supporting the delivery of Scottish Government aspirations and focusing on agreed priority areas and develop partnerships and collaborative action. 

Over the past two years, £2 million worth of FLS’ contracts to 16 SMEs in rural west coast communities have helped build capacity within the sector and create 5 apprenticeships. 

In 2023 enhancements to the Forestry Grant Scheme were made that support land managers to deliver more native woodland restoration and expansion, including rainforest. The enhancements were:

• increased grant support for natural regeneration,
• higher grant support for native woodland planting available in Argyll,
• improved support for landscape-scale deer management, and funding towards community or shared use larders,
• improved support for rhododendron clearance and follow-up treatment.

Since 2015, Scottish Forestry has committed £6 million of grant funding for the management of existing native woodlands within the rainforest zone. Over £3.7 million has also been invested in rainforest restoration to date through the Nature Restoration Fund and Scottish Government has also funded over £5 million of rainforest restoration work by FLS since 2022.